EU urged to enact stalled data protection laws as France proposes new measures

In a package of proposals entitled ‘Digital Technology and Fundamental Rights’, the Council lists a number of additional measures that could be incorporated into future EU legislation, according to a report by EurActiv.

Among its recommendations, the Council stressed the need for annual reports to be published on the work of data protection across the EU, EurActiv said.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians from 16 EU member states have called for the “swift introduction” of personal data protection laws in the EU.

A joint declaration adopted at an inter-parliamentary meeting in Paris called for EU legislation to be in force “by 2015”, according to EurActiv.

A proposed EU legislative package containing one directive and one regulation, put forward in January 2012, was adopted at first reading in the European Parliament in March 2014. It included measures to protect European citizens' data and to restrict its use by businesses and intelligence services.

According to EurActiv, “the package now contains an arsenal of measures to protect the personal data of European citizens... any company sending personal data outside the EU without permission could face a significant fine of 100 million euro or 5% of their global turnover.

Last July, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere called for the conclusion of efforts to overhaul and harmonise data protection law in Europe. In particular, de Maiziere said Germany wanted to see an “opening clause” in future regulations that would “explicitly allow” EU member states to go beyond the planned ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (119-page / 448 KB PDF) “as needed and pass stricter national data protection legislation for the public sector”.